When you convert the police from crime solvers to revenue generators, this is a pretty logical outcome. Hat tip to a reader. A man has his cars stolen, the police ticket them and tow them but refuse to return them to him.

When my car was stolen in Boston in the summer of 2003, I found it before the cops did. The City of Boston mailed me a notice that my car would be impounded unless I paid $300 worth of unpaid parking tickets - most of which I'd accumulated in the month the car was missing. I found the address the car had been ticketed at on Google Maps, went there, and drove the car to the police station to report it found.